An expert on the mathematics of coincidence, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1974.
After teaching at Stanford University, he returned to Harvard in 1987 and now teaches Mathematics 191: "Mathematical Probability" and works with graduate students.
In addition to working on mathematic texts and journal articles, Diaconis has given a number of lectures to lay-persons not versed in the language of mathematics.
In 1992 and 1993 he gave lectures as part of the University's lecure series on "research for non-specialists," including a talk on coincidences and on the search for randomness.
Celebrated in the field of mathematics, he was also mentioned in a 1993 article in The New Yorker, which called him one of the "pure amateurs in the best sense."
Despite his expert knowledge of card tricks and games, Diaconis says he never plays competitively because winning makes him unpopular.
"And if I lose they say, 'He's not so good,'" he adds.